When an assassin's bullet felled Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968, it robbed the civil rights movement of its undisputed leader. Dr. King not only led the movement, he symbolized it. From organizing a bus boycott in Montgomery, AL; to speaking to a quarter-million people from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial; to marching from Selma to Montgomery, the face of the civil rights movement was Dr. King's.

The civil rights movement was an unstoppable freight train, and Dr. King was driving it. Beyond that, King was a spokesman for Blacks nationwide. He put their frustrations and hopes into words that everyone heard. Although his was not the only voice of the Black community - Malcolm X and the leaders of the Black Panthers were among many others who had followings - Dr. King's was perhaps the most remembered.

History has recorded that James Earl Ray silenced that voice. In the 35 years since Dr. King's death, no one voice has emerged to fill that void. No one voice has emerged louder and clearer than the others to lead Black Americans in a common cause. Opinions vary as to why that is, and what it's meant for the Black community. One theory as to why is that there is no longer that one common cause to unite them.

The absence of a single recognized leader does not mean there is an absence of leadership in the Black community...quite the opposite: "The Black community has many leaders to match its many causes," said Prof. James Marten. "And in some ways, that's best."

"African-Americans are a lot more diverse and pluralistic than they were even 40 years ago," said Kelle Rogers, 41, an adviser for the Black Student Union at Carthage College. "We're not a homogenous group, and therefore it's hard to find one leader who could appeal across the board. And I think that's a good thing."

Prof. Marten, who teaches African-American history at Marquette University, said: "I don't think it's necessary to have one leader. Because there's so many fronts on which the Black community is pursuing change, and given the complexity of society today, one person probably can't do it."

"The absence of a single, recognized leader does not mean there is an absence of leadership in the Black community...quite the opposite: The Black community has many leaders to match its many causes, and in some ways, that's best."

"The absence of a single, recognized leader does not mean there is an absence of leadership in the Black community...quite the opposite: The Black community has many leaders to match its many causes, and in some ways, that's best."

"....Some, like Marten and Scott, say it's cost the black community little or nothing. King was the right man for the right cause at the right time in history, but the times and causes have changed.

Others, however, say there has been a cost.

One cost is that those multitudinous voices don't speak in unison and sometimes drown each other out. Leaders in the black community don't try to build coalitions among themselves, Pitts said. The various causes also compete with each other for limited resources, Rogers said. For one to win, another has to lose.

On the whole, the various leaders speak for and to different segments of the black population. Jesse Jackson Jr. is able to energize young people, while Kweisi Mfume, the president of the NAACP, can articulate and speak to the older people, Rogers said.

Some black leaders can mobilize people from all segments of the black community at times, Rogers said. Louis Farrakhan, leader of the Nation of Islam, did it for the Million Man March.

But on the whole, that doesn't happen, she said. While the chorus of voices shows the diversity and depth of black leadership, it comes with a downside.

"I think we do lose something by not having a popular, well-known leader who speaks for the group," Rogers said. "We lose the ability to clearly articulate, instead of having these mixed messages."

It doesn't have to be that way, Pitts said.

There are causes that black Americans could rally to as they did civil rights, he said, such as the disproportionate number of blacks in the prison population and reforming the school system to better prepare black youths for college.

And someone could, if they spoke loud enough and well enough, provide the voice to lead that cause. Even if some voices are heard just in one neighborhood, or one city, it would make a difference....."

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I whole-heartedly agree! We don't need a "messiah." We just need a spark to starts some fires in our communities where change is needed.